The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1 eBook

for her heart was-full to overflowing of her own grief,
and of Katie. Kneeling there, sobs shook her with
an abandonment to her sorrow that was in itself a
relief after her restraint. But at last the calmness
and the strength of a life greater than its trials
fell upon her. And when in the hush of these she
went to her bed and fell asleep, it was a face like
a child’s that the stars shining in at her window
looked down upon, a face fallen into lines of peace
while the tears were yet undried upon the pale cheeks.
But only in its simplicity was it a child’s
heart that met the next day’s sunshine, for the
courage of a strong woman looked from Elizabeth Royal’s
eyes.

CHAPTER XVI

THE DINNER PARTY.

Colonel Archdale with his hands behind him walked
up and down his drawing-room in pleasant anticipation,
with, it may be, a touch of the feeling which once
animated an Eastern monarch over the great city that
he had builded for the honor of his name. The
Colonel had been like the monarch in one thing, that
he had been born in wealth, not obliged to start at
the very beginning of the race; he was like him in
this also that he had made the very best of material
opportunities; he had builded about himself, if not
a great city, at least a great and profitable business,
so that he had a reasonable expectation of leaving
his son and his two surviving daughters—­the
latter still children—­wealthier than his
father had left him. The only drawback, and he
had not yet found it a serious one, was that it was
difficult to take as much money out of his profits
as he would have liked to live upon, for his increasing
business demanded always increasing capital. Also,
he had done a great deal for Stephen, so that it required
all his efforts to maintain the splendor in which
he lived, outdoing his associates. All things
considered, therefore, it was not so very strange that
he should have resembled Nebuchadnezzar in the other
respect of satisfaction in his own achievements.
That day the cream of the society of Portsmouth and
its neighborhood were to be at his house; most of
them, without doubt, pleased to be invited. Peace
and plenty were here. The war three thousand
miles away, in which the brave young queen Maria Theresa
was struggling for her inheritance, had just rolled
a tidal wave across the Atlantic, and the news of
the garrison taken from the English fort of Canso
and carried prisoners to Louisburg had just reached
Boston. This capture had been made before the
Colonies had learned that war had been declared by
France against Great Britain. Already there were
signs of hostility among the Indians, and a movement
of whole tribes toward Canada to join the French,
whose old allies they were.